Editorial: Fox feud makes Obama look small

Monday

Oct 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 26, 2009 at 4:30 AM

He didn’t run it past Congress, but President Obama has declared war. This isn’t about the hostilities in Afghanistan or any other nation. Obama’s war is with that bastion of Republican politics: Fox News.

He didn’t run it past Congress, but President Obama has declared war.

This isn’t about the hostilities in Afghanistan or any other nation. Obama’s war is with that bastion of Republican politics: Fox News.

In banning Fox, Obama is repeating the mistakes of past presidents – Richard Nixon’s feud with The New York Times comes to mind – who decided to freeze out a news-gathering organization because he didn’t appreciate their editorial position.

We have railed against Fox News on several occasions. It is our position that objectivity and fairness should be the hallmark of every news organization, and that Fox regularly fails such a litmus test by mixing an anti-Democrat bias into its news reporting.

However, just as we believe it is important for the United States to hold itself to a higher standard than the rest of the globe on issues such as industrial pollution, public education and treatment of foreign prisoners, we also maintain that the president should be the bigger man and continue the same open door policy toward Fox as is enjoyed by everyone else.